Birds of Prey: Generation Lost
by The Amazing Shrinking Violet
Summary: TV-Based: A tie-in to Rider Paladin's Who Rules The Night, featuring the familiar and growing cast, along with new faces from both DC's history and from their chief rival, Marvel Comics, including a familiar wisecracking crimefighter.  R&R, if you like.


Birds of Prey

"Generation Lost"

Chapter One: "Out-of-Towners"

Disclaimer: Batman, the Birds of Prey, the (Teen) Titans, and all other related characters are the property of, in their various incarnations, Warner Bros, DC Comics, Cartoon Network, the CW, and all other license holders and creators. I'm not receiving any form of monetary payment for writing this, as it's being done solely for my amusement and enjoyment, as well as that of of my faithful and loyal readers, amongst others.

Author's Note: Yes, this IS another crossover with Rider Paladin's work. My rationale for all this? The guy writes EXCELLENT fiction, and this is how I pay my tribute; by extending his ideas somewhat, with his approval and input on all my decisions. With that said, let's get started.

* * *

><p>After Batman's dramatic unveiling of himself as John Grayson nee Malone, Dinah wasn't sure what to think. Even after he arrived in class and took his seat, she wasn't sure what to say other than offer her usual hello and a smile, which he returned. She also couldn't quite focus on what the others were saying...ANOTHER new transfer to the high school, this one a female from 'out of town', meaning they had no idea what she looked like. Barbara was wondering what exactly was up with this herself, considering the coincidence of another new student who was also familiar to her in a vague, unknown way.<p>

"Class, I'd like you to meet our newest addition...Mari Anders." As she spoke, the door to the class opened, and in walked in a vision on heels. A young woman with bronzed skin, looking like a healthy tan, distinct purple eyes, long dark hair that flowed over her shoulders and along her back, as well as two small bangs framing her face, a rather beautiful face at that, a figure that most grown women would kill to have, let alone teenaged girls, wearing a loose light purple sweater over a black sleeveless shirt, and blue jeans, with a pair of heeled boots.

"Hello, everyone. It's a pleasure to meet you." She smiled sweetly, a smile that melted the cool veneer of every guy in the room, and even some of the girls.

"If everyone's done staring..." Barbara remarked in an amused tone, startling some of the class, as she turned to look at Mari, "...there's a seat in the back."

"Thank you, Ms. Gordon." The girl bowed politely, making her way to the back of the room, the innocent yet seductive swaying of her rear end drawing quite a bit of attention – the girl was pretty much physically the ideal woman, yet had no idea of that simple fact. As she passed John and Dinah, she smiled to them both before taking her seat and getting comfortable, while still sitting at perfect attention with a rapt expression on her face.

* * *

><p>Moving ahead to the lunch hour, and the student body of the school were still talking about the newcomer. Dinah's friend Gabby was one of those interested parties who was interested in learning more about the girl, though most attempts at flirting failed miserably, as though the girl had no idea what flirting was. She just smiled in that endearing, practically adorable fashion, nodding her head to everything that was said, and eating a rather odd concoction that she had brought to school herself – a three-layer sandwich consisting of various sandwich meats and a healthy layer of mustard on each slide of bread. It was odd because no one could imagine a girl with that kind of figure and seeming delicacy enjoying mustard quite THAT much. However, for the sake of politeness, and partly because John had decided to stare at her with a determined look, Dinah decided to introduce herself.<p>

She walked over to the table, waiting until the previous group of lovesick-seeming boys had left in a state of confusion, wondering how exactly they'd managed to fail at getting any of 'that kind' of attention from this girl, and yet were still left feeling as though they'd done better than most, and then introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Dinah Redmond."

"Oh, hello! We're in the same homeroom, right?" There was that smile again...and that's when Dinah noticed besides her perfect figure, she even had perfect pearl-white teeth...how could ANYONE be this perfect-seeming and STILL be this nice? Most of the 'hot' girls in the school, so to speak, were total bitches to those who didn't have any standing in the social structure, while this girl just seemed happy to meet anyone. "Do you want to sit down?" She offered the chair across from her, setting her food aside for the moment, and cleaning her lips off, blinking as she regarded the blonde.

"Oh, sure. Thanks." Dinah sat down, and swearing that something about this girl was familiar...then began to think on where she'd had that feeling before. The only thing that came to her was when John had revealed himself as both Batman and Dick Grayson's son...and if one took Dick Grayson's face into account, and looked at this girl from the right angle, certain similarities would certainly arise...but that HAD to be a coincidence...especially since it was doubtful that anyone from the Bat-Family would be THAT well-tanned and nice without trying to be...even more so when compared to Helena, who could be completely snarky and rude, and certainly wasn't nice without trying to be. "So, where are you from, originally?"

"Uhm...how would you say it? Out of town?" the girl offered in a helpful tone, though not quite grasping what that meant.

"I guessed that...I meant where specifically." Dinah raised an eyebrow at that and at the girl's startled reaction at the word specifically.

"Uhm...well...I come from a place called...uh...I can't really tell you, because you'd think I was crazy..." Mari confessed, chewing on her lower lip and looking, for all intents and purposes, that Dinah had just slapped her across the face with that last question.

"Oh...oh jeeze...I'm sorry. Don't take it personally...I was just curious." Dinah attempted to soothe the frazzled girl's nerves, which seemed to help. It soon became apparent that this girl was hiding something...something to do with where she came from. However, she did manage to say something before blinking rapidly.

"Well, while I can't tell you where I come from ORIGINALLY, I CAN say that I relocated here from another city...San Francisco," Mari offered in that helpful tone again, looking perky once more and smiling. Dinah couldn't help but smile back as she nodded.

"Alright, cool. That's definitely a start." She nodded, tilting her head to regard the bronze-skinned beauty again.

"My mother and I moved there some months ago from our original home, and then I moved here for a while to discover my roots. I have a relative who comes from this area...well, more like from Old Gotham...and I decided to see what I could find out." She nodded, and then blinked. "Would you mind if I resumed eating?"

"Oh, sure, go ahead." Dinah blinked, watching as the girl resumed her eating, at which point another oddity reared its head – she was taking rather large bites out of the sandwich she'd brought with her, rather than more reserved portions, and was soon finished, and once again brushing her lip off. "...Wow. I can honestly say I've never seen a teenaged girl eat like that before." That caused Mari to blush brightly, and laugh nervously.

"My family on my mother's side are all healthy eaters, you could say."

"With a figure like THAT? That's surprising."

"Oh, not really. Well, not where we're from. In fact, my mother used to be a supermodel."

"No way."

"Mhmm."

And so the two girls made small talk, until Dinah was satisfied that the girl seemed what she said she was, though making a note to keep an eye on her in the future...after all, another new friend would be pretty cool...especially if that friend could help her out in the more feminine of her interests, unlike John.

* * *

><p>Detectives Dick Grayson and Jesse Reese were at the same time off for a coffee break. The two were in Jesse's car, and had stopped at the coffee house Jesse like to frequent, while Dick waited in the car, thinking on the recent course of events. He was broken out of his reverie, however, when the driver's side door opened. He turned to say something to who he thought was Jesse, only to see a face from his past – a rather attractive, though cold face, framed by dark hair, with glowing purple eyes, wearing what amounted to a midriff baring dark purple top and short-shorts, with armor-plated gauntlets, boots, and a neck piece, with bronze-orange skin, and a wicked look on her face.<p>

"Miss me, Robin? Or, is it Nightwing now? Or are you just little Dickie Grayson?" the familiar voice purred in a taunting manner as the curvy, attractive female climbed into the driver's seat, and then began to make her way over to Dick's side of the car, while the former (vigilante) crime-fighter attempted to back up, only to find himself stuck against the car door when the female grasped him by the wrists and dragged him in close. "Don't worry...I don't bite...much." To prove her point, the bronze female leaned in, and placed a kiss on his lips, before biting them firmly, though not enough to do any harm. When the impromptu kiss ended, he spat her name.

"Blackfire. Always a displeasure."

The comment made the woman laugh in an amused fashion, and began running her hands along his torso. "You say that now, but I know you always had your eye on me...after all, back in the glory days of your youth, my sister was as thick as a rock and had NO idea how to please a man...of course, this is more about personal satisfaction than it is YOUR pleasure." The seductive smile turned mean, and the alien reached down, roughly grabbing Dick by the crotch, and squeezing a certain part of his male anatomy in a rather painful way. "I have a lot of...issues...with you and your friends...and I'm here to get a little payback." She kissed him again, her eyes glowing a fierce shade of purple, before she eased up her grip, purring again. "This is just your warning – I'm back in town, so to speak, and I know all your important secrets...I mean, I'm sure your boss, that annoying guy with the growing bald spot, would be interested to know your little secret, don't you think? All of them..." She whispered that in his ear, giving him a seemingly-affectionate pat to the lap, and then slid out of the car, leaving a very bewildered Dick Grayson behind, before the female alien began to fly up into the air, drawing the attention of passerby who had no idea what they were seeing, before she let out a wicked laugh, and streaked away through the sky, leaving behind a trail of purple.

Jesse had come out in time to see Blackfire leave his car and fly off, and he rushed forwards, forgetting their coffee for the moment, and pulled open the door himself, eyeing his partner in a concerned fashion. "You alright, man? Who was that?"

"Ugh...I will be...in about an hour...and that...was an old 'friend' from my past...and not a very pleasant one...ow..."

"She, uh...sprain something there?" Jesse had a slightly amused tone to his voice, while Dick gave him a dirty look.

"She's not my type." He gave his partner a look, and then sighed. "I think...I'm gonna need an ice pack."

"Ouch," Reese gave him a wince of sympathy at that, before getting in the car and starting it up. "Guess we'll skip the coffee this time around, get you checked out."

"Sounds like...a plan."

* * *

><p>"She did WHAT?" Helena was skeptical as she made her way through the rooftops of the city, some hours later, a somewhat shocked look on her face.<p>

"According to Dick, Blackfire forcibly groped him in broad daylight before flying off."

"Talk about a shot across the bow," Helena remarked, somewhat amused, flipping through the air from one rooftop to the next, running fairly quickly before jumping up again, and grasping a fire escape ladder, pulling herself up using the metal apparatus on the side of the building, before reaching the top and staying there for the moment. "How's he holding up?"

"He's fine for the moment, though he was worried she'd actually seriously injured him, which, knowing her, could be entirely possible," came the reply from Barbara, in her role as Oracle.

"So, what do you know about this 'Blackfire'? Sounds kinda pretentious, if you ask me."

"Well, considering she's former extraterrestrial royalty, she has the right to a pretentious-sounding name."

"Woah, seriously? Big bro got bad-touched by alien royalty? Wow."

"Don't be smart, Helena; Blackfire's incredibly powerful, given the nature of her powers – she's a solar sponge, like Superman, only far more destructive when she puts her mind to it."

"So when did Dick run into her?" Helena looked down below, waiting to see if she was needed, while continuing the conversation.

"During his Teen Titan days in San Francisco. She came to Earth to frame her younger sister for a series of crimes she'd perpetrated in deep space, only for Dick and the rest of the Titans to ruin that plan, and hand Blackfire over to Alpha Centauri authorities in Starfire's place."

That statement shocked Helena, who then began to make her way down, leaping off of the building she was on, and freefalling through the air, until, some stories later, she landed on a lower rooftop, and began her patrolling again. "She framed her own SISTER? Sounds like a complete bitch."

"Even later, she faked an invasion of her homeworld, after taking it over by force, so she could gain a gem of power and marry her sister off to another, far less appealing alien life-form...I can't really pronounce his name properly...not to mention countless other criminal acts over the decades. As far as we knew, though, Blackfire had reformed some time ago, and was granted a place back on her homeworld by her brother, the current ruler of the planet. Seems like that information was either inaccurate, or something's happened to set her off on some revenge spree...as it was Dick who always revealed the nature of her plans, and indirectly caused her downfall each time she crossed paths with the Titans."

"Girl must hold a mean grudge," the Huntress remarked as she spotted a mugging on the corner of the street below. "Gonna have to put this on hold, Oracle...just found someone looking to make a quick buck the wrong way."

"I'll check in on Dinah, in the meantime. I'll update you if I learn any more information."

"Sure thing, boss-lady."

* * *

><p>In the foreboding institution of Arkham Asylum, a certain deviant criminal who formerly went by the name Harleen Quinzel found herself being escorted to an interview room, being told something about a visit from a court-appointed lawyer. Frankly, that didn't make any sense, because when Quinn had been jailed, she'd been told there was no chance of a retrial, or having the charges dropped...or perhaps this was an attempt to get her to cop a plea to some of her earlier crimes, including the ones the police couldn't pin on her without her testimony. Well, anything that would let her screw around with someone else's head would be entertaining, at the least.<p>

When the short-haired blonde was set in front of the interview booth, she sat in her chair and looked over at the lawyer intently, expecting some fresh-faced youth, or perhaps a grizzled and grim figure...instead, she saw a rather attractive man with long dark hair, with bangs over his eyes, his hair in a ponytail, and a set of very dark eyes. At first glance, he was simply eye-candy...but to the trained observer of the criminal and hero elements, one could tell from his build that he was quite well developed, and possessed incredible strength, from the way he was gently handling his briefcase...and those eyes...those deep, dark eyes...were rather like those of her beloved Mister J – full of mischief, pain, and even a hint of insanity that could barely be contained...though this man was doing quite the job at hiding his true nature from the others around them.

"Well, you're my new lawyer, are you? I must say, you're quite delicious for a lawyer, Mister...?" Harley started the conversation, wearing a wicked grin, wondering just what this new arrival had in mind.

"Reilly...Matthew Reilly. I've been hired by a party who wishes to remain anonymous for the moment, to assist you in any way I can, Miss Quinzel." As he spoke, he reached into his case, and produced a distinctive cufflink, with the engraved letter J in stylish font on it. Harley's breath caught in her throat, as she recognized it quite easily – she'd given it to the Joker herself some time before he'd been arrested for the last time. "I trust this proves my claim is what I say it is."

"Hmmm...indeed. I could already tell you were more than a simple lawyer from just looking at you, even if these sheep can't...this just goes to show you're a good luck charm. I was wondering how my beloved Mister J was doing."

"All I can safely say is that the party who contacted me to represent you was very adamant that I serve you faithfully." The man identifying himself as Matthew Reilly bowed his head, wearing a wicked smile of his own. "Do you have any tasks you need attended to, while you're incarcerated here?"

"As a matter of fact, there is, Mister Reilly...there is..." The blonde smiled evilly, and leaned in, motioning for her 'lawyer' to do the same, and began to whisper to him softly.

* * *

><p>At the end of the school day, Dinah was walking with Gabby, chatting about the new girl. Gabby seemed more interested in possible pick-up ammo, but Dinah couldn't help her out much there – Mari was pretty much as pure as snow, and didn't have any 'weaknesses to exploit', as some people would put it. As the two headed for their lockers, they could see John seemingly chatting it up with Mari, and the vague sense of recognition occurred to Dinah again as she viewed the two in profile – they had a number of similar facial features; in fact, too many similar ones for it to be a coincidence.<p>

It was at that moment that Dinah realized just why Mari was so familiar to her, her eyes widening with a bit of shock at the thought that was running through her head. _'No way...is she...?'_ Before she could think on it further, John and Mari's conversation came to an end, and the black haired girl walked away, a slightly downcast look on her face. The effect of the look was such that Dinah went over to Mari, and put an arm around her shoulders to comfort her, getting a semi-envious look from Gabby in the process.

"What's the matter, Mari? What did John say to you?" the blonde asked, soothingly, giving a questioning look to the dark haired young-looking man.

"...Nothing you should worry about, Dinah. We just had a disagreement on something...that's all," was all the exotic girl would contribute to the other teenager, a sad air about her. "I just thought that, given our situation, we could get along..." she added, before falling silent again, and looking a bit mopey. Dinah gave her a pat on the shoulder, and tilted her head some.

"Uhm...I'm not used to this sort of thing, honestly. Most girls who look like you wouldn't be in this situation in the first place...Would you want to come over to my place, maybe...?" was all Dinah could offer, completely at a loss of what to do with a young woman who seemed so vulnerable to emotional harm...considering she hadn't even heard John raise his voice, or do anything that would identify their 'conversation' as an argument. At hearing those words, Mari perked up some, and looked over to the girl with a soft smile.

"That would be lovely. You live with Ms. Gordon, correct?"

"Yeah, I do. She's my guardian...has been since my mom...well...I'd rather not go into it right now...or here, for that matter," Dinah replied, trying to ignore the memory of her mother's death for the moment, focusing more on the girl who had seemingly become her other new best friend in a matter of moments.

"I suppose some of the other students make fun of you for that, yes?"

"Ah, you learn to deal with it," the blonde said with a wry smile, while the taller girl straightened up some, and looked over to the now-brooding John. "I know it's none of my business, but did you two have an argument or something?"

"Somewhat...we had...a disagreement over...parentage. I'll explain later, when it's more quiet...it's rather important I not give away too much out in public," Mari said, after a few moments' careful consideration of her words. "Suffice it to say, things will be put into perspective when I get the chance to explain things."

"If you like, you can tell me about it when we reach my place. I'm catching a ride with a friend of Ms. Gordon's now," Dinah said cheerfully enough, though she did note the odd look in Mari's eyes when she said that. "Something I said?"

"You just...reminded me that I haven't seen my mother in some time."

"Isn't she here in the city?" Mari shook her head in reply before sighing heavily.

"She's...back in our hometown, you could say. She's also something of a dignitary, and sent me ahead to New Gotham...I'm expecting her within the next month or so." There was an even sadder tone to the raven-haired, bronze-skinned beauty's words, and she leaned up against Dinah, surprising the other girl with her weight. Of course, Dinah's startled gasp was enough to let Mari know she'd put too much weight on the other, and eased up a bit. "My apologies...I'm heavier...and stronger...than I look."

"I figured a girl with your height would be kinda heavy...but..." as Dinah spoke, she lightly ran a hand along Mari's sweater-covered stomach, though the taller girl didn't do anything to stop her. "...this feels like muscle. Serious muscle. You work out?"

"You could say that," Mari confirmed, blushing a bit at the hand on her stomach. It took a snicker/chuckle from Gabby for Dinah to realize she'd lingered too long on the muscle definition beneath the fashionable clothes, and quickly yanked her hand back, blushing herself.

"S-sorry!"

"It's quite alright. Considering we're friends, it's not really much of a problem with me. Where I come from, friends are usually somewhat intimate...by that I mean they're aware of each other's capabilities and such things...not the kind of intimate that your friend seems to think I'm talking about." There was another blush on Mari's cheeks, those words being the first time the strange girl had even acknowledged the things that were probably on Gabby's mind.

"Gabby, you perv," Dinah responded with her own giggle, linking arms with Mari, and, after gathering their books and other things, the two walked out of the school and, waiting for them were Detectives Grayson and Reese, Reese giving Dinah a look.

"You know we could get in trouble for this, if Dick hadn't said it was a family emergency," the African-American said good-naturedly. "Hey, what's wrong with your new friend there, Dinah?" Dinah turned to look, and was started to see that Mari had gone considerably paler, her bronze skin losing some of its shining veneer, the taller girl worriedly chewing on her lower lip, her eyes locked on Dick Grayson, who soon noticed this, and, after a second look at the girl, his eyes locked on hers, and went wide, before he began to walk up to her, Mari taking a step back and dragging Dinah along with her.

"Who are you?" he asked, unblinkingly, placing his hands on her shoulders, the girl looking away for a moment, before looking up at him and, after several moments of nervous silence, slumped considerably and finally spoke, in a timid, small voice.

"My name is Mar'i, of the planet Tamaran," she said, keeping her eyes averted. When Dinah heard this, her eyes went wide.

"Woah, woah, woah...you're an ALIEN?" the blonde remarked, stunned at that revelation. "I mean, yeah, you don't look exactly normal all the same, but you certainly don't look like an alien or anything!"

"Who's your mother?" Dick asked, still gripping the girl in his hands, his eyes narrowing some. "Is it...?"

"Y-yes...my mother is the former Princess of Tamaran, Koriand'r...and...I am your daughter," she said, finally, completely flooring everyone around her. Dick released her, a shocked look on his face as he took in this girl, unable to deny what she was saying, because, as he looked at her, he could see the family resemblance to both her mother and himself...and why else would a Tamaranean be here on this planet, aside from Blackfire?

"You have a DAUGHTER?" Jesse asked, disbelieving of this. "And not only that, but a half-ALIEN daughter?" With that, the African-American shrugged, blinking a few times. "You're really going to have to share some of those old Robin stories sometime."

"Yeah...I guess I'll have to," Dick admitted, dumbfounded, watching as the girl's color returned with her relief, her skin once again practically glowing radiantly, much like it had with her mother all those years ago. "But...why didn't Kori say anything...?"

"She...told me she didn't want to burden you with knowledge of my existence...she thought that it might be harmful to the work you were doing...as well as provide your enemies with a target," the revealed alien hybrid said, sighing softly as she ran a hand through her dark hair – the same color hair as Dick and John's, Dinah noted with some bemusement – and turned to look over her shoulder.

"She still could've said something...it would've been nice to know I had family..." Dick said, not sure of what to do now, before it occurred to him what he should do: he walked forward and embraced the girl, catching her by surprise, though she returned the hug with a blush and a smile. "So, Mar'i of Tamaran...mind if I ask where your name came from?"

"My mother named me in honor of your mother...as she would've named a son after your father. The name she gave me was Mar'i Grayson, though I came to this school calling myself Mari Anders...after the name she possesses here on Earth."

"Heh...figured as much. I guess this throws a wrench into my plans," the older man said with a grin and a sigh.

"You mean your reconciliation with Ms. Gordon?" Dick quirked a brow at that.

"How did you know that...?"

"Mother told me that before you knew her, you knew a Barbara Gordon, who was once Batgirl, though, before Mother left the Earth, she heard that Barbara had been injured severely, though she didn't know the extent of it. It doesn't take a detective to figure that much out...though I wish I was one anyway. It seems a bit of a waste of the family line to not be one."

"Well, it's never too late to learn," Dinah cut in, shooing Mari-nee-Mar'i to the car, startling the teenager. "Now, c'mon. Even if they can't see us, people are beginning to stare at the four of us just standing here and talking like this."

"Right, yeah...c'mon, Jesse, let's drop these kids off, then get back to the office before Chief Rojas pitches another fit," Dick nodded, climbing into the car's front passenger seat, buckling in, as Jesse got in the driver's seat, and Mar'i and Dinah got in the back.

* * *

><p>Sometime after Dinah and Mar'i had left the school grounds with Grayson and Reese, John received an alert that something was going on in the business district of New Gotham...specifically, the area where a number of high-priced boutiques and jewelry stores lay...and a number of them were being broken into. With some relief, John left the school himself, and went to suit up in his Batsuit.<p>

Minutes later, Batman had arrived at one of the stores being broken into, and took stock of the scene – a number of red, four-point throwing star-like objects embedded into the doors and floor of the store Batman had decided to check out first, and could hear the sound of someone chuckling and smashing things inside. As he stepped inside, his sharply honed combat senses allowed him to just narrowly dodge another of the throwing objects, this one exploding three seconds after its impact into the doorframe behind him. With ease, he rolled through the air, and landed in crouch, only to catch a boot to the face.

He rolled back as well, and looked to see who had attacked him – it was a figure in black, and red, with a white skull-emblem mask. The white skull of the mask also bore the outline of a red domino mask over the black eyes, and a red X-marking on the right side of the skull emblem. The figure also wore a ragged black cape with red trim and a grey inner lining, and a black bodysuit with the familiar outlines of a very familiar body armor – that of the Robin costume, however cast in black, grey, and red, with the R logo on the chest virtually scratched out by two red lines forming an X over the crest, with a slightly bulky utility belt featuring on the buckle another red X marking. The figure looked over Batman, and chuckled in a distorted, though familiar enough, voice.

"So you're Batman, huh? Kinda small, aren't you? Not what I expected." The seeming man – though even an amateur female could disguise themselves as a man with padded body armor and a mask – outstretched his hands, the red X markings on the backs of his gloves unfurling, and turning into blades that began spinning like a circular star, and then began slashing with his hands. Batman narrowly avoided his attacker's jabs and slashes, before countering by taking out two Batarangs, one per hand, and throwing them, striking the blades and causing them to cut out. "Nice moves...but I have some nice ones of my own."

The mysterious black-and-red figure tapped the centre of his belt, and faded from view, before appearing behind Batman and kicking him in the back of the head, sending the other man stumbling forward, before he quickly recovered and swept the other's feet out from beneath him.

"I don't usually get in fights with such extravagant individuals without knowing their names," Batman said in his rasp, his eyes narrowed at the would-be thief, who simply bowed respectfully, holding up one edge of his cape with his other hand, much like a matador.

"Call me...X. Just X. I'm here to beat a little payback out of the REAL Batman's ass...but considering he's not here, his family will have to catch the beating for him, I guess." X took up a stance, a smug tone in that familiar voice. "Personal reasons and all...can't really go into them in detail, but it involves the utter failure of you lot at managing your responsibilities."

As Batman took up his own stance, he gritted his teeth, and thought on what he'd just gotten himself into. "You certainly are talkative, aren't you?" All Batman could do was take out X as fast as possible, before either the police or the Birds of Prey arrived.

"So sue me. I was hoping to run into Batman's girl, Huntress...but a fake Batman is just as good a thing to make an example of...and THEN I'll get to Batman's little girl...oh, she won't be as pretty when I'm done with her, of course..." X chuckled darkly, as he began to throw more of those objects,, easily identifiable as red X-looking weapons, that continued to explode as they hit things behind Batman, who dodged to the side and launched a flying kick at X, knocking the criminal back a few steps.

* * *

><p>"Helena, there's a break-in at Rasputin's Jewelers. I'm sure you're aware of its location," Oracle's voice came over Huntress' com-set, the vigilante in question having finished her rounds for the night...or so she thought.<p>

"Yeah...my mother broke in there once...and you know who caught her," the dark-haired young woman replied as she began to run.

"Batman's already there, but from what I can gather of the security cameras, he's fighting something with somewhat similar moves to himself...though that's a generous estimate, considering I haven't seen the attacker use anything beyond a familiar combat stance and the manner that he throws his weapons in. I'll update you as I know more."

"You've said that twice today now, Oracle...something I should know about?" Huntress quipped as she began to draw closer to the location in question, the sounds of sirens beginning to fill the air. "Uh oh...looks like the police are on their way, too. If I go there now, I might be able to help the 'kid' out, but I might get seen just the same."

"The best thing for you to do is get there, but wait for the masked man to try to run for it, and chase him down, while the police are distracted securing the crime scene."

"Sounds like a plan!" And with that, Huntress stopped a rooftop away from where Batman and X were fighting it out.

* * *

><p>End Notes: For those of you wondering, in advance, this DOES relate in some ways to many of my previous works, those you've seen and those you haven't. I fill a specific niche in my crossovers and team-ups, and I stick to that niche as best I can, with the occasional bit of new material thrown in. In this case, much of the material presented - Blackfire's appearance, her background, and the character of X - all come from the animated version of Teen Titans, mainly because in some ways, that series was a tad more realistic in some depictions, or at least had better character designs when compared to the comics, which anyone can tell you. X is based on the character of Red X in look and behavior, but serves a different purpose than the originator of the name, as one can tell by the different design of X's body armor in this chapter. Mar'i Grayson comes from the two Graphic Novels "Kingdom Come" and "The Kingdom", and has also been featured in a few other fanfics by Rider Paladin and myself. Considering the nature of the Batman present in the main storyline of this Birds of Prey entry, I thought her appearance was worthwhile. I hope you all enjoy this, and if you have any questions, please direct them to myself.<p> 


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